External articles (5)

Conservancy workers have staged a march against the privatization of Chennai conservancy operations. “Many women conservancy workers have been injured at work while sweeping arterial roads such as Sardar Patel Road. The compensation for such workers have also not been provided by the private conservancy operator, the protesters charged. Some workers who have lost their life because of road traffic accidents caused during sweeping work at night have also not received compensation. ‘Privatization may be good for the corporation as the civic body may save money. But many workers are losing their lives and livelihood. They do not have a voice,’ said a worker.”

The City of Bradford is hiring the for-profit company 3GS to enforce municipal rules on “litterbugs and even those caught spitting in public.” But the idea of privatizing the service has met with concern from some, including the local Bradford District Chamber of Trade. “Val Summerscales, secretary of the Chamber of Trade, said: ‘We would obviously welcome any attempt at improving the city centre. We don’t like to see litter in the city centre, we don’t like to see people spitting and we don’t like anti-social behavior. ‘But it begs the question why it’s deemed that the existing council workers are not able to deal with that, and why a private company is being brought in.’ Mrs. Summerscales said she wanted to know whether any council wardens would lose their jobs. She also said it would be crucial, if they didn’t want to put people off visiting the city centre, that the company struck the right balance by targeting persistent litter-louts rather than punishing people making innocent mistakes. She said: ‘We want to see them being effective, but not if they are going to be really bombastic about it and issue fines where fines are not necessary, just to fund the organization they work for.’”

Stay connected

We at People Over Profit will use the information you provide on
this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates. By signing
up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance
with these terms and that the information you provide will be
transferred to our marketing platform, MailChimp, for processing.
You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe
link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by
contacting us at communications@world-psi.org.